60 Minutes: Michael Usher apologises for 'serious mistakes'

By Hannah Ryan

It's a feeling others in their mid-thirties might relate to: 60 Minutes has gazed hard into the mirror, and been disappointed with what it saw.

In a 'mea culpa' segment on Sunday night's program, 60 Minutes has admitted that it stuffed up its now infamous story on a custody dispute spanning Australia and Lebanon.

60 Minutes host Michael Usher: "we've been asking ourselves how things could have gone so wrong."

Photo: James Brickwood

"Tonight we face up to the errors we made," host Michael Usher said.

"We sincerely apologise for our serious mistakes."

60 Minutes presenter Tara Brown and former producer Stephen Rice on their return to Sydney after being released from a Lebanon jail.

Photo: Daniel Munoz

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In an interview in the segment, founding producer Gerald Stone described the debacle as "without a doubt, the greatest misadventure in the 37 years of 60 Minutes."

In April, 60 Minutes crew members travelled to Lebanon where Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner was to recover her daughter and son, after her estranged husband Ali Elamine allegedly failed to return them to Australia from a holiday.

Ms Faulkner hired a private company, Child Abduction Recovery International, to assist. 60 Minutes has admitted directly paying the company, which is headed up by former Australian soldier Adam Whittington.

But when the plan went awry, four members of the crew found themselves in a Beirut jail on kidnapping charges, alongside Faulkner, Whittington and members of Whittington's team.

Sally Faulker with her children, Lahela and Noah.

Photo: Supplied

Ever since then, Usher said on Sunday night, "we've been asking ourselves how things could have gone so wrong."

Mr Stone was charged with answering that question, conducting Nine's review into the incident, alongside Nine executive David Hurley and general counsel Rachel Launders.

The results of the review were released on Friday, with the blame sheeted home to 60 Minutes' culture of risk-taking and excessive autonomy.

"It's amazing to me that a program that bases itself on asking the right questions didn't ask itself the right questions," Mr Stone said Sunday night.

Although it was a legitimate story, Mr Stone said the team took too many risks in covering it the way they did.

He said that everybody involved seemed to be emotionally attached to Ms Faulkner.

While the review recommended that no individual be dismissed over the incident, it was announced on Friday that Walkley Award-winning producer Stephen Rice would depart the network.

Usher acknowledged on Sunday night that Rice had "lost his job over this".

"I felt very strongly that as long as management was not completely in supervision of the program, it seemed to be unfair…that a journalist should be picked out," Mr Stone responded.

But, he continued, "if one was going to be picked out, it was going to be the producer of the program."

Reporter Tara Brown did not escape censure. Mr Stone agreed that her judgment had been "blurred".

"I did not see the willingness to say, is this story really worth the risk?" he said.

While a deal with Mr Elamine meant the crew and Ms Faulkner were released last month, Whittington remains in prison. 60 Minutes did not address his situation on Sunday night.

Whittington said on Sunday night that Nine had abandoned him and others recruited for the mission and had moved to "settle the matter without us", resulting in the release of the Australian TV crew and Ms Faulkner from jail.

"We were kept as a scapegoat and fuel that burned for this channel's investment projects," he said.

Usher said the program was carefully reviewing its operations, and that a criminal investigation in Lebanon involving its crew and Whittington was ongoing.

"Sadly we have damaged the reputation of a great television program," he said.

"What's important is to learn from the mistakes and we are committed to doing that."